Convertible car.



J.; J; METZ @E A. MosLm.v

- -GONVBRTIBLB GAR.

ummm-10N Hmm APB. 12,-190'9.` 961,876, Patented June 21, 1910.

' Y a SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ANDREW a GRAHAM co4. PnoTn-umoeRAPHzns, wAsnlNamN D h J. J. METZ & A.MOSLEY.

CONVERTIBLE GAR.

APPLIGATION FILED AML-12. 1909.

Patented 11111621, 1910.

UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oFEioE.

JOHN J. METZ AND ARTHUR MOSLEY,OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

CONVERTIBLE CAR.

Specicaton of Letters Patent. Patented June 21, 1910,-

Application filed April l2, 1909.

Serial No. 489,512.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, JOHN J. METZ and ARTHUR MOSLEY, citizens of theUnited States, and residents of St. Louis, Missouri, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Convertible Cars, of which thefollowing is a specilication containing a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apart hereof.

Our invention relates generally to improvements in convertible cars, theprincipal object of our invention being to con# struct a car which maybe converted either into a box car for the shipping of merchandise,etc., or which may be converted into a stock car for the shipping ofstock, etc.

I-o the above purposes, our invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction and arrangement of parts which will be hereinafter morefully set forth, pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is an outside elevation of one side of the car; Fig. 2 is aview showing the inside construction of'one side of the car; Fig.'3 is asectional view showing the inside of one end of the car and taken on theline 8 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2and in this view the sliding doors which are employed are shown down;Fig. 5 is a similar view showing said doors in-an elevated position;Fig. 6 is a section taken approximately on the line 6 6 of Fig. 4; Fig.7 is a detailed sectional view showing the weights which are employedfor the doors; Fig. 8 is an outside elevation, partly in section, of thedoor which may be employed on our invention; Fig. 9 is a section takenon the line 9 9 of Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is a vertical section of a modifiedform of the side of the car wherein the doors are cloesd; Fig. 11 is asimilar view where the doors are elevated; and Fig. 12 is a detailedview, partly in section, of the catch which holds the doors elevated inthe modified construction.

As heretofore stated, our object is to construct a car body which may beused as a stock car, and which car may be converted into abox car forthe purpose of shipping merchandise, etc. The improvements especiallyrelate to an improved construction in the ends ofthe. car, in the cardoor and a slight modification of the car bottom, which enables theready conversion of the car either into a box car or into a stock car.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, and in Fig. l'wherewe have shown an outside elevation of one side of the car, l indicatesthe roof, which may be formed of any suitable construction.

2 indicates the upper portion of the side of the'car, which is boxed infor practically a third of the side of the car. This portion of the sideof the car is boxed in in any suitable manner. The side framing of theside of the car may be made in any suitable manner, and we have shownthe side framing composed of the bracing timbers '3, the verticallydisposed upright timbers 4, and corner posts The lower portion of theside of the car, or about two-thirds of the side of the car, is an openconstruction which is constructed by using the horizontal strips l6,spaced apart. These side strips are properly secured to the uprightframe timbers, and the lower portion of the car body, including the endsand sides thus constructed, will present the appearance as'illustratedin Figs. l and 3.

Secured to the vertical side frame timbers 4 and to the corner posts 5are metal guide strips 7. These guide strips extend from the floor ofthe car almost to the roof. Secured to the inside of the timbers 4 andto the corner posts are metal guide strips 8; The metal guide strips 7and S are spaced apart so as to form guide ways 9. It will be seen thatthese guide-ways are of greater width at the top than at the bottom, andthe function of these guide-ways will be hereinafter more fullydescribed.

10 indicates vertically sliding ldoors by means of which the openlattice-work o the sides and ends of the car is closed.

In the construction which we have shown, we have provided for eightvertically sliding doors arranged in pairs, two pairs being' on eachside of the door opening in the side of the car,`and the ends of the.cars are closed bysimilar slidin doors 1l; that is to say, we employtwo. sliding doors for each end of the car, and eight'for each side ofthe car. The ends of these sliding doors are located in the passage-ways9 formed by the guidestrips 7 and 8.

In our preferred construction, we employ weights y12 for these slidingdoors. These weights are secured to the Asliding doors by means ofweight cords 13, passing over pulleys 14, one end of said weight cordsbeing attached to the weights 12 and the other end to the doors. Theseweights are employed for the usual purpose of assisting in theelevationof the doors, and we make use of one weight on each end of eachsliding door, and as the space for the weights is comparatively small,we have constructed a special form of weight, such as 12. These weightsare tapering, so that they may readily pass each other. In some cases wemay not use weights, in which cases we elevate the doors solely by hand.In the illustrations in Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 we have shown -the weightconstruction for the doors.

The door of the car is of the usual construction, except along the sidesa depression 15 is formed and a shoulder 16, and adjacent said shoulderwe make use of a metal protection strip 17, behind which the lowermostone of the doors rests when said door is in its closed position.

The bottom one of each of the doors is provided with a vvearing strip18. The meeting edges of the doors when they are closed may be providedwith beveled faces, such as 19, as illustrated in Figs. 10 and 11,orthey may be provided with a lap joint 20, as illustrated in Figs. 4and 5, it only being necessary that the joints shall be as tight aspossible when the doors are closed.

In order to hold the doors in an elevated position, as illustrated inFig. 5, that is to say, the doors provided with weights, we secure tothe framework of the sides of the car a pivoted dog 21. Said dog isadapted to be swung outwardly out of the path of the doors so that thesame may be elevated, and when said doors havebeen elevated and lie sideby side, as illustrated in Fig. 5, this dog is swung under the loweredge of said doors and holds them in an upright position. The pivotedmovement of said dog is limited in one direction by means of the uprightframing timbers, and in order to keep said dog` from working out `fromunder the doors bythe vibration of the car, we secure to the bottom ofeach door a pivoted dog 22, and said pivoted dog 22 has a shoulder 423.

When the dog 21 has been positioned beneath the lower edges of the doorswhen they are inA an elevated position, one of the upright framingtimbers of the sidesvand ends of the car will prevent said dog frommoving in one direction, and the pivoted dog 22, with its shoulder 23,williprevent said dog 21 from moving in an opposite direction. Fromthisv construction, the dog 21 which supports the doors in their elevateposition, is plrevented frombein displaced from beneat the loweredges o'the doors bythe vibration of the car.

In iorder to hold the doors closed, as illustrated in Fig. 4, we secureto one o'f the upright framing timbers a pivoted dog 24, and above saiddog 24 a pivoted pawl 25. The lower end of said pawl is adapted toengage with a notch on the upper face of the pivoted dog 24. In Fig. 5we have shown the pivoted do 24 and the pawl 25 yin an ele* vatedposition so that the doors may be elevated, and in Fig. 4 we have shownthe doors closed and the pivoted dog 24 and pawl 25 in the properposition to hold said doors in a closed position.

The obj ect in having the guide-ways wherein the doors are located andmoved wider at the top than at the bottom is to permit said doors tolpass each other and lie side by side when they are in an elevatedposition. In other words, the low-er portion of said guideways is aboutthe width of the thickness of the door, and the upper portion of saidguide-ways is about the width of the thickness of both doors when lyingside by side. When the doors are closed the lower edge of the lowermostdoor passes behind the metal strip 17, virtually making a water-tightjoint.

In the construction where We do not employ weights for assisting in theelevation of the doors, the doors are held in their elevated position bymeans of pivoted dogs, such as 26, mounted on the framework of the oaror in the guidesways. In Fig. 12 we have shown the pivoted dog 26 inengagement with the lowcrmost one of the doors, and to release the. samefor the closing of the doors it is only necessary to elevate said doorand push the dog out of the path of travel of the door.

In thecarrying out of our` invention, we also make use ofva speciallyconstructed car door, the same being illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9. Saiddoor is of the sliding type, the bottom half, 27, being closed, and theupper half, 28, being open-work, said door being provided with vertical,guide-ways 29 on each of its vertical sides, and located in saidguidesvvays and adapted to move up and down so as to open and close theupper portion of the door, is a closed door section 30. In order to makea closed door, this section 30 is elevated, as illustrated in Figs. 8and 9, and said section 3() is held in its elevated position by meansfotpivoted dogs 31, carried by the door. These dogs may be moved out of thepath of travel of the door section 30 so as to permit the lowering orelevating of said section, and when'said section is elevated they engagethe lower edge of said section, as illustra-ted in Fig. 8.

The operation of our invention, brieiy stated, is as follows: When thecar has been constructed as heretofore described, if it is desired toship live stock, all the sliding doors carriedzby the sides and ends ofthe car are elevated, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5, and the doorsection 30 is lowered. This will virtually convert the car into a stockcar with the proper ventilation. If it is desired to convert the carinto a box car, the operation is reversed; that is to say, the slidingdoors carried by the sides and ends of the car are lowered and lockeddown by the means heretofore described, and the door section 30 iselevated. When the doors have been moved .into this position, a car isformed complying with all the substantial requirements of a box car forthe purpose of shipping merchandise, etc.

A car of the type of our invention costs very little more, if any, inits construction than an ordinary box car or a stock car, and when soconstructed has the double advantage in that the same car may be usedfor the shipment of live stock and easily converted into a box car forthe shipment of merchan` dise.

7e claim:

l. A car, having a portion of its sides and ends boxed in, theremaining` portion of its sides and ends constructed of open-work,sliding doors independently mounted in passage-Ways of varying widthscarried by the sides and ends of the car for the closing in of theopen-work of the sides and ends, ineans for holding said doors in anelevated position, and means for locking said doors in a closedposition.

2. A car having a portion of its sides and ends boxed in, the remainingportion of its sides and ends constructed of open-work, sliding doorsindependently mounted in passage-ways of varying widths arranged alongthe sides and ends of the car for the closing in of the open-work in thesides and ends, means for holding said doors in an elevated position,and means for locking said doors in a closed position.

3. A car, having a portion of its sides and ends boxed in, the remainingportion of its sides and ends constructed of open-work, sliding doorsindependently mounted in passage-Ways of varying widths arranged atintervals along the sides and ends of the car for the closing in of theopen-work in the sides and ends, a pivoted dog for holding said doors inan elevated position, and

a pivoted dog for holding said doors in a closed position.

ll. A car of the class described, having a portion of its sides and endsclosed in and the remaining portion constructed of openwork, a roof forsaid car, a floor provided with longitudinal recesses along its sides,guide-ways of varying widths carried by the sides and ends of said car,independent sliding doors positioned in said guide-ways for closing andopening the open portions of said sides and ends, means for holding saidsliding doors side by side in an elevated position, and means forlocking the said doors in a closed position.

5. A car of the class described, having a portion of its sides and endsclosed in and the remaining portion constructed of openwork, a roof forsaid car, a floor provided With longitudinal recesses along its sides,guide-ways carried by the sides and ends of said car, independentsliding doors posit-ioned in said guidewvays for closing and opening theopen portions of said sides and ends, means for holding said slidingdoors side by side in an elevated position, means for locking said doorsin a closed position, said guide-ways being widest at their upper endsto hold tWo doors in their elevated positions.

6. A car having a portion of its sides boxed in, the remaining portionof its sides constructed of open-work, sliding doors independentlysuspended and mounted in passage-ways carried by the sides of the carfor the closing in of the open-work of the sides, means for holding saiddoors side by side in elevated position and means for locking said doorsin closed position the upper end of each of the passage-ways being of awidth sufficient to hold two doors and the lower end being of a widthsufficient to receive one door only.

In testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification, inpresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN J. METZ. ARTHUR MOSLEY.

lVitnesses:

E. E. LONGAN, E. L. WALLACE.

